Friendship and Night Flying
by Kalira69
Summary: A night flight between Earth Kingdom city-states allows for some time to relax.


"Zuko. C'mon baby. Relax." Sokka's voice was soft, but the calm night air carried it well. Aang glanced around towards them. Sokka looked like he was fighting sleep - rare, for Sokka, who valued sleep so highly - but he was still sitting up beside Zuko, slouched near the back of the saddle. He rubbed a hand up and down Zuko's back, pulling the scroll out of his hands and rolling it up.

"Sokka-" Zuko sighed, reaching half-heartedly for the scroll as Sokka tucked it away in one of the packs nearby. "You know what I'm doing. It's important. I'm trying to familiarise myself with-"

"If you're not familiar with everyone you could _possibly_ have to talk to when we get there already it's because your brain is rebelling against all the studying you've crammed into it over the past few weeks." Sokka said, huffing. "If you are not _more_ familiar with everyone on the council than the Shuman king is himself, I'll _eat_ that scroll."

Zuko snorted, lips quirking, and Sokka grinned at him. Aang ducked his head, smiling fondly at his friends.

"Come on. Wouldn't it be better to be rested when we get there?" Sokka wheedled, rubbing a hand over Zuko's shoulder. "You'll have to deal with all that political nonsense, and making nice with a spoiled king and a council who will probably be afraid you'll breathe fire on them like a human-shaped dragon. . ."

"I can breathe fire." Zuko said absently, and Aang stifled a giggle as Sokka leaned his chin on Zuko's shoulder.

"Mm, when you get really frustrated in peace talks you look like it, too." Sokka said easily. "Come on. Get comfy with me, baby. . ." he coaxed.

Zuko sighed and when Sokka pulled at him again, arms sliding around his waist, he slouched back a little more against the saddle, long legs folding up in front of him.

Appa groaned quietly, looping lazily through the sparse, low-hanging clouds. Aang smiled and patted him, shifting to get more comfortable. It wasn't a hard flight, and Appa was well rested, so they had elected to continue overnight - they should reach the Earth Kingdom city-state of Shuman in the morning.

Appa didn't seem to mind, clearly enjoying the cool night air and probably the longer flight as well, after the series of short hops they'd made over the past couple of weeks. Aang was enjoying it too, the calm after the bustle of bouncing between a dozen towns in the past weeks - it had been fun, but the quiet flight was nice. Relaxing.

"Aang?"

Aang looked around behind him again, and smiled as Katara crawled closer, settling at the front edge of the saddle. "Hi Katara!" he said brightly, keeping his voice down as he glanced past her at the other boys.

Sokka's head had sagged down onto Zuko's shoulder, and he seemed to have dropped off to sleep quickly once he stopped arguing with Zuko. Aang didn't want to disturb them now it looked like Zuko had settled down. He'd been anxious for days, preparing for this next leg of their visits through the Earth Kingdom.

"What do you think Shuman will be like?" Katara asked curiously, and Aang shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never been there." Aang grinned. "Looking forward to it?" he asked.

Katara shrugged. "It's nice to see new places." she agreed, settling forward a little more. "It's even nicer now we don't have to hide when we get there any more."

"Yeah, it is!" Aang said, laughing. "I don't really like hiding." he admitted, frowning.

"Well now we don't really have to." Katara said happily, smoothing one hand over the edge of the saddle. "Everyone knows who you are. We are."

"It _was_ kind of fun sometimes, though." Aang pointed out, thinking of some of the places they'd been. Katara hummed dubiously, and Aang inched a little further back on Appa's neck, closer to her, and brought up a few of their adventures. Her lips twitched but she resisted smiling, and Aang grinned, wheedling her towards admitting that _some_ of those times had been fun, at least.

Katara giggled and finally agreed, countering with some of the ones _she'd_ thought had been the most fun.

"I can _feel_ you moving." Sokka said thickly, and Aang glanced past Katara again. Zuko had one hand outstretched towards the nearest pack, and Sokka was still draped over his shoulder, eyes closed, though he was apparently not asleep.

Zuko frowned, elbowed Sokka - gently - and then sank back, shifting and cuddling into his side with a sulky expression. Aang glanced at Katara, who had stifled herself with a hand over her mouth, though Aang could still hear her laughing softly.

Aang grinned at her and they spoke a little more quietly as Zuko and Sokka curled together more snugly at the back of the saddle, Appa carrying them smoothly on through the night.

It had been silent for a while before the sun began creeping over the horizon, pouring warm golden light all across the landscape beneath them. Aang grinned, taking deep breaths. Appa spread all his legs out, giving a quiet roar and soaring higher in the crisp morning air. Aang scratched into the fur around one of his horns, looking around at the rest of his friends scattered around Appa's saddle.

Katara was curled into a ball, still resting at the very front of the saddle with one arm draped over the edge and her head tipped over to rest on it. She'd still been leaning there to talk to him when she finally fell asleep a few hours ago. Momo was secure in her lap, where he'd retreated when he got tired of clinging to Aang's shoulders.

And still curled peacefully together at the back of Appa's saddle, past the baggage, Sokka was leaning sideways across Zuko's lap, with Zuko's arms folded around him, both slouched into the support of the saddle's edge in a tangle of reds and blues.

* * *

This was requested by a Mousie via my Tumblr (Kalira9) askbox - written for #5 from a cuddling prompts list, because Mousie didn't specify a list. . . The prompt used was cuddling "in the back seat of the car", and I altered it a smidge, obviously, to fit canon rather than a modern AU.


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